SW3D

AKA... Swamp Thing vs. M'Nagalah No... this isn't really a Celebrity Grudge Match... nor is this a fantasy comparison of each author's works to determine literary superiority... No!... this is simply a look back to when Len Wein's creation, the Swamp Thing, took on an HP Lovecraft inspired Great Old One. Many of you already know I am a big fan of Swamp Thing. I've recently posted a journal entry (see "Cornering the Market"), espousing my love for the classic first volume. But I'm also a huge fan of the legendary horror writer HP Lovecraft... and after recently purchasing a CGC 9.8 copy of Swamp Thing Volume 1, Number 8 (see pic), I thought I'd share with you why this issue is not only one of my favorites of that storied run, but how I believe was inspired by the works of Lovecraft. 39 years ago... way back in 1974, 19 years before Mike Mignola's Hellboy was battling otherworldly nasties inspired by the late great Lovecraft, the genius of Len Wein gave us a preview of things to come. Len Wein no doubt found his muse for this particular issue in Lovecraft's 1928 novella, The Dunwich Horror, and the inferior 1970 movie adaptation of the same name (well... probably not from the movie since... how do I put this?... it really sucked!). The Dunwich Horror, in an nutshell, concerns the diabolical machinations of Wilbur Whateley, described as a tall, dark, goat-like being (the hybrid spawn of the union between an albino witch and a Satanic entity)... the last heir of the Whateley's... a grotesque inbred family of dubious origins....through the practice of the Black Arts, summons and unleashes an invisible otherworldly creature on the back-water people of Dunwich (a fictional hamlet set in New England). And for you Batman fans, if you read the Dunwich Horror, you'll be quickly introduced to the fictional neighboring city known as Arkham... a name which later resurfaced as the infamous holding pen for Batman's Rogues Gallery... Arkham Asylum. And of further pop culture interest to note, Arkham is the home to the equally fictitious Miskatonic University... that fabled educational institution on par with Harvard, and the one time resting place of the dreaded tome, The Necromicon, written by the "Mad Arab" Abdul Alhazred. The Necromicon was the blatant inspiration for director Sam Raimi's Evil Dead Trilogy. Do you begin to see the scope of HP Lovecraft's mystical storytelling influence?... The Evil Dead, Batman's Arkham Asylum, Swamp Thing, Hellboy, and a multitude of fictional works, can trace an aspect of their terrifying roots to Lovecraft. But it doesn't just end there... ...In fact, If any of you have read House of Secrets 92, the Bronze Age debut of the "first" Swamp Thing (Alex Olsen), you should know that story was partly inspired by HP Lovecraft's 1921 short story "The Outsider". Don't believe me? Read it for yourself and you'll discover the similarities. That story along with Theodore Sturgeon's "It!", inspired the likes of not only Swamp Thing, but Solomon Grundy, Hillman Comics The Heap, and Marvel's Man-Thing. I could even see a vague and subtle influence on Harlan Ellison's first published work from 1956, "Glowworm", about a "green glowing" survivor of a nuclear holocaust. As for Swamp Thing Volume 1, No. 8... after escaping Gotham City and the clutches of the Dark Knight, the Swamp Thing finds himself lost in the Appalachian's, and chances upon a mysterious village called Perdition, where its townsfolk are harboring a horrific being named M'Nagalah, brought into the world from another dimension by Arcane Arts... a being who is every bit on the level of Lovecraft's legendary Great Old One's and the "invisible" otherworldly creature from Ambrose Bierce's classic 1893 short story "The Damned Thing" (which no doubt inspired Lovecraft's fevered imagination). Now, in no way am I implying Len Wein is a copy-cat or rip-off artist... no, on the contrary! The Dunwich Horror and ST8 differ greatly to make them unique stand-alone literary creations in their own rights. What I am hoping to convey is how influential one author can be to actually inspire the great works of others! Len Wein has produced some of Comicdom's greatest creations (Swamp Thing, Wolverine, 2nd Generation X-Men, etc.), and deserves membership in the pantheon of the greatest fiction writers and literary creators the world has come to know... His works have equally inspired, much like Lovecraft's, and can therefore be considered canon! If you haven't read ST8 it is available in various reprint formats... or... I'm sure you can obtain a decent reading copy at a fair price. As for Lovecraft... if you haven't read any of his classic short stories, then I urge you to seek out his collected works at your local bookstore, library, in digital formats on your Kindle or Nook, or even in the classic pulp pages of Weird Tales where many of them first appeared (if your lucky enough to find them). Thanks for reading. Feedback, opinions, and comments always welcomed. Happy Collecting! SW3D To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Who has Green Hair, wears Yellow Skin Tights with Green Striped Underwear, Red Boots and Gloves, and tops it all off with a Furry Red Cape? The Creeper... a trippy Steve Ditko creation from 1968, is arguably the most bizarre character to emerge from DC Comic's Silver Age, next to Brother Power the Geek! The Creeper first appeared in the pages of Showcase No. 73. With one of the oddest and most improbable origin stories of any comic book superhero, the Creeper is not your atypical DC costumed hero. Jack Ryder, a Gotham City TV Talk Show Host who pushes the boundaries of investigative journalism one too many times... is fired... but immediately lands a new job in all things... security? Unable to shake-off his investigative make-up, he attempts the rescue of a kidnapped scientist, Dr. Yatz, from the clutches of mobsters bent on selling his "serum" to the Soviets (this was, after-all, just five years removed from the height of the Cold War). During the attempted rescue, Jack Ryder is mortally wounded by the mobsters. In order to save his life, Dr. Yatz injects Jack Ryder with the serum which immediately gives him not only abnormal strength and agility, but a super-healing factor. Dr. Yatz also implants a device into the gunshot wound which has the added-effect of causing his costume to "appear and disappear" at will with the aid of an activator. How wacky is all that? But not to be outdone.... ...my first exposure to The Creeper was 30 years ago in 1983, when the Copper Age Jack Ryder served as a back-up feature to Barry Allen in the pages of The Flash: 318 -- 323. That run featured Jack Ryder and his alter ego the Creeper, investigating a drug cartel selling a strange narcotic which changes young addicts into reptilian-like homicidal maniacs. What appeals to me the most about the Creeper is how uniquely different he is from most mainstream heroes. Because of his oddball quality, I knew I had to seek out his first appearance and add it to my CGC collection. I guess I'm a sucker for the strange, freakish, horrific and grotesque. Just look at my comic collection and the "tale of the tape" says it all. Now I will admit, to most comic fans, the Creeper isn't their cup of tea. And I don't blame them. For the most part, the writing, art, and the continuity of the Creeper character has been rather uneven. But if you never read a Creeper story, and you're willing to give it a shot... I recommend starting off with the 2006, six-issue series written by Steven Niles (30 Days of Night). It's available as a TPB: The Creeper: Welcome to Creepsville. There is of course, the collected reprints of Steve Ditko's work on the green haired character appearing in the 2010 hardcover book: The Creeper by Steve Ditko. which includes the Showcase 73 debut, the Creeper's first six issues in his eponymous title, and a never before published work. As for my Showcase 73... this 44 year old little beauty, with an old blue label proclaiming it's near mint grade of 9.4 with White Pages, comes by way of Pedigree Comics. Thanks for reading and as always Happy Collecting! SW3D To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Moving closer to completing "Keys to the Kingdom" Set. As some of you already know, I'm trying to complete a set of keys tied into Adam Warlock. This issue, Thor 165, had been floating on eBay for at least a month or so and I had been watching it like a hawk hoping to get my filthy hands on it. I will admit, I did pay double the FMV for it... and I did my level-best to haggle with the seller to bring down the price, but he wouldn't budge... I guess he figured out I was desperate for it. Cardinal Rule: Don't ever come across as desperate for any item... because once you do, they got you by the b*lls! Although I'm slightly dissapointed at what I paid for it, I'm delighted to say it is my first CGC comic featuring Stan Lee's autograph. And I'm happy for that since Stan The Man co-created both Thor and Him (later to be named Adam Warlock) with Jack Kirby, and wrote the story in this issue... so its a fitting signature and not a gratuitous one. As for the key itself... it features the 1st Full Appearance of Him, battling Thor for the hand of Lady Sif. It's also noted to be a last 12 cent issue... making it one of the last issues in the Silver Age before the transition into the Bronze Age. After confirming the purchase on eBay, I went to Midtown Comics Grand Central and bought the hardcover Marvel Masterworks The Mighty Thor Volume 8, which reprints this issue as well as the follow-up story. So now I only have three more to go before "The Keys to the Kingdom" is complete... but knowing me... I'll probably take my sweet time and purchase more high-priced dupes before getting this done. Anyway... Thanks for reading and as always... Happy Collecting! SW3D To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

AKA... Reunited and It Feels So Good! AKA... "I'm Julius. And this is my brother Vincent. We're twins." AKA... "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad."Meet the Wonder Twins... no, not the Vulcan-eared, brother and sister duo Zan and Jayna from the Super Friends, but more like "I wonder what the hell I was thinking buying the same exact comic book I already own?"Look at these two. Is it a case of double-vision? Can you tell them apart? They're both Marvel Premiere #1, featuring Warlock. They're both historical keys where "Him" is first named "Warlock" by the Higher Evolutionary; is given the vampiric Soul Gem containing a pocket universe; where Counter-Earth (Earth 616) is first created; and lastly Warlock becomes a fashion plate by creating a costume mash-up of Shazam, Conan the Barbarian, and the WWE. They're both graded 9.6 with White Pages. And they both carry the same pedigrees from Suscha News. So what distinguishes them? How do I tell them apart?If you take a good look... just one number! That's right... their CGC registration numbers sets them apart... but only by one little number. Isn't that amazing? They are in exact sequential order from one another. Just one itsy bitsy number separates these two from being exact dupes. Obviously the previous owner sent them into the CGC for grading at the same exact time, and indeed they were graded one right after the other, both registering a CGC Grade Date on January 18, 2011... nearly two years to the day!But how often do two such items go through the hands of different owners only to be reunited again?I bought the first one through ComicConnect late last year in December 11th... and by sheer luck, a month to the day... on January 11th, while trolling on eBay looking for something else entirely, I found the second. I rubbed my eyes when I took notice of its registration number and something compelled me to cross-check against my copy. And to quote an overly referenced cliché... "And the rest is history."I have nicknamed these bad boys "Julius" and "Vincent" (lifted from one of my favorite 80's films: Twins... a feel good classic I can watch a billion times!) And for all intents and purposes these are twins... albeit not Siamese or Conjoined. I vow they will never be separated again. They have found a good home and have become part of my permanent CGC collection, joining the "Brotherhood of Warlock" aka "Keys to the Kingdom Set": Fantastic Four 66, 67, Thor 165, Marvel Premier 2, and Warlock 10. And if ever that rueful day should come where I need to sell them... I will sell them as a "Twin Set" (I shed a tear thinking such sad thoughts).But here's the "capper"... my natural curiosity led me to the CGC website once again, and I decided to check the registration numbers that sequentially precede and follow these two. And guess what? I found there is a third Marvel Premiere #1... in other words a missing triplet! Now I am determined to find that third brother. How? I've searched and trolled the same sites looking to see if it is up for sale but my search has come up empty. But I haven't stopped there... I went to the local police precinct and filed a "Missing Persons", but so far nothing. I also checked the local orphanages but he wasn't there too.And last night I walked the cold and barren streets, checking bus depots, back alleys, tenement buildings, and abandoned lots, all the while singing a favorite nursery rhyme..."Oh where, Oh where, has my little Adam gone? Oh where, oh where can he be?He battles his future evil self, he's the best artificially created super being of all,Oh where, oh where can he be?"But seriously, I have a good mind to contact ComicConnect and see if they could tell me who may be the current owner and I'll do my best to talk him/her into selling that third MP1. Wish me luck!Now... if you don't mind, I'm going to take Jules and Vincent on their strollers to the local supermarket, buy them some formula, and see if they can help me round up some real "twins"... or "puppies"... if you know what I mean. Thanks for Reading and as always... Happy Collecting!SW3DTo see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Adventures of Superman Gil Kane Gil Kane's The Amazing Spider-Man: Artist's EditionYesterday afternoon, as it seems to be my daily custom of late, while on my lunch break, I visited Midtown Comics Grand Central. I actually went there with the intentions to buy the trade paperback volume collecting Grant Morrison's seminal 80's run on Animal Man... which I did. Aside from that, I also checked-out the wall of new releases and noted, with a measure of indifference, Marvel's Superior Spiderman #1 to be the big draw. Quickly passing that up, I kept perusing through hundreds of titles, looking for anything of interest, and a new release by DC instantly caught my eye: the hardcover book... Adventures of Superman Gil Kane. It's a funny thing!... perhaps almost serendipitous!... but on December 30th and January 3rd, I posted two journals detailing my purchases of Marvel Premiere #1 and #2 featuring Adam Warlock, beautifully brought to life by the majestic hand of Gil Kane. One of the replies to the latter journal came from Brandon Shepherd, who agreed with me on my opinions of Gil Kane: "Neat book SW3D! You're absolutely right about Gil Kane, he was a master." I replied to Brandon's comments: "Hey Brandon, I was looking through your exceptional AC collection... tremendous!... lots of high grades. I actually own AC's 545 to 554 which I bought back in the day from my favorite local newsstand which feature Gil Kane's exceptional art. I also collected his Superman run from 381 to 392... None of which are graded as of yet.There's something exceptional about Gil Kane... he has his own unique style that no one else has... like a unique stamp. When you see a Gil Kane rendering, you immediately know it's him... like seeing art by Neal Adams, Jack Kirby, or Steve Ditko... you just know it's them. I am actually waiting for the CGC to finish grading my newsstand bought copy of Action Comics 552 and 553 which includes guest appearances of Animal Man and a host of others. Those two comics feature two of my favorite covers... GK packs them with wall-to-wall action! There's a natural fluidity and depth of excitement that very few can replicate let only master."So lo and behold, DC has published and released Gil Kane's run of Action Comics and Superman from the 1980's... comics which I collected and treasured for their brilliant art work. Priced at $39.95, I had no choice but to add it to my collection. I'm sure there are many of you out there who are unfamiliar with Gil Kane. That's okay... there's plenty of time to get familiar with the legend. Gil Kane's real name was Eli Katz... born on April 6, 1926, in Riga, Latvia. At the age of three, his family immigrated to the States and settled in Brooklyn, New York. By the age of fifteen, Gil Kane was working at MLJ Comics (now known as Archie Comics), working on Pep Comics and The Shield. Sometime later, Gil found himself working side-by-side with the dynamic-duo: Jack Kirby and Joe Simon, at Timely Comics (Marvel's predecessor). By the late 50's, DC came calling and this is where Kane really made his mark. While at DC, with John Broome, Gil Kane co-created Hal Jordan, the Silver Age Green Lantern (Showcase #22), and the Silver Age Atom (Showcase #34) with Gardner Fox. He also lent his prodigious talents on titles like the Teen Titans, Captain Action, and Hawk and Dove. Fast forward to the 70's, and Kane is working for Marvel, co-creating Iron Fist (Marvel Premiere #15) and Morbius the Living Vampire (Amazing Spider-man #101) with Roy Thomas. His work on Conan and Adam Warlock are stand-out's, but his reputation and fame is solidified with a brilliant run on Amazing Spider-Man. In fact, this past Summer, Marvel and IDW teamed-up to bring you a glimpse of Kane's fantastic draftsmanship in the monolithic book: Gil Kane's The Amazing Spider-Man: Artist's Edition... faithfully scanning the original comic artwork appearing in ASM's 96 -- 102, and 121 (the infamous "Death of Gwen Stacy"). This is a beautiful book! I was rifling thru it this afternoon at Midtown Comics. Priced at $125 it is a bargain! I'm going to pick it up... no doubt about it! My favorite issues happen to be 101 and 102 where we are first introduced to the Living Vampire: Morbius. On top of that, Peter Parker grows four additional arms... making him a spider-like freak. Throw in the Lizard for good measure and it becomes a "Merry-Marvel-Monster-Free-for-All"!Leap into the next decade, the 80's (incidentally, the decade where I did most of my comic collecting), and Gil Kane is back at DC, illustrating the adventures of Superman and his co-creation: Hal Jordan. Some of my favorite Green Lantern books are the ones penciled by Gil Kane, where he provided the interior artwork and covers for issues 154, 156, 166, 167, 177, and 184. Sadly, on January 31, 2000, Gil Kane passed away from complications due to lymphoma (a type of blood cancer). This upcoming 31st will mark the 13th year of his untimely death. It's is fitting that DC put out a book commemorating his brilliance. I hope you all pick up a copy and enjoy his amazing talents. I'm including a pic of not only the Gil Kane's Superman book I picked up today, but also Marvel's Masterworks featuring Warlock which reprints Marvel Premiere 1 and 2, and Warlock No's 1- 8, featuring Gil Kane's illustrations. Good reading and Happy Collecting!SW3DTo see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

AKA... I own 0.0057273768613974799541809851088202% of the total CGC graded population for Swamp Thing Volume 1, Number 1. Back in late 2005, I bought my first graded CGC comic. I regard it as one of my favorites in my collection. I probably will never give it up. It will remain with me until my dying days. Only God and the great Universe will ever separate me from it. It is Swamp Thing Volume 1, Number 1, graded 9.2. I still marvel at it, and in my opinion looks better than the 9.4's and 9.6's I have in my collection. I bought it for $220, my first eBay purchase ever, and I remember Overstreet had it listed at a value of $150 ungraded. After receiving that first CGC purchase, I got it into my head that I wanted to own every single graded ST#1. Can you imagine? I had this crazy notion and obsession to corner a market... a niche market on a one time forgotten character. F*cking nuts! Since that wild and ludicrous impulse, I have bought four more ST #1's. I now own a total of five, which equates to exactly 0.0057273768613974799541809851088202% of the total CGC graded population (873)... or about ½ percent. Why Swamp Thing Volume 1, No. 1? I believe ST#1 is the pinnacle issue of all the Swamp Thing volumes (not including House of Secrets 92). And let me clarify further by stating... Volume 1, issues 1 through 10... are sheer classics that deserve similar praise bestowed upon the Silver Surfer's first volume collection. The rest of that volume's run, lamentably, falls far short of expectation. Many Swamp Thing fans will argue and sling mud and throw moss at me and tell me I'm obviously nuts (but my "sanity" has already been established). Yes, I believe Alan Moore's run is pure genius deserving of the high praise, awards, and accolades it has garnered, and he's done what very few have done... breathed new life into a character that seemingly died with those God awful movies from the 80's. And I like what DC is doing with the current volume... the whole Rot World saga is very cool. But I can't help but to love the original classic, brought to you by the masters: Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. They are timeless, they are vintage, they are hallmarks of comicdom! The funny thing is, back in the late 70's and 80's, I never read any Swamp Thing comics. I knew of him, but I was more into his rival, Marvel's Man-Thing, and maybe a bit curious about Hillman's The Heap. In those days, every time I opened up a comic... right smack in the middle was Mile High Comics double-page spread catalogue. I would religiously scan every comic they had on sale, especially the Frank Miller Daredevil's and the Claremont and Byrne X-Men's... observing how they priced them... in essence, it became my monthly price guide. I would always look at what other titles were listed, and Swamp Thing always caught my attention. The first volume always seemed to carry a premium and it was always listed with "Wrightson" like he was a superstar along the lines of Kirby, Steranko, Adams, Miller and Byrne. However, when I caught the Wes Craven movie, as well as the follow-up featuring Heather Locklear... I told myself... you're not missing anything. Sometime in the early 90's, when I grew cynical and disillusioned with the whole commercialism and oversaturation of the hobby, I found myself wandering aimlessly in search of a new direction. I was still in college, hooked on science fiction books, especially Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat serial novels. But that fan-boy in me, who still loved comics, wanted to remain connected to the hobby and sought solace in the "innocence" of the past. One day, I walked into Little Nemo's... a great little comic shop on Austin Street in Forest Hills, Queens, named after Winsor McKay's main character from the classic comic strip Little Nemo in Sumberland. In this claustrophobic storefront, thousands upon thousands of vintage comics, posters, and original art from the Golden Age, Silver Age, and the Bronze Age graced its four walls... walls majestically decorated with the heroes of yesteryear. My eyes would always widen with delight, joy, and awe like a kid in a candy store. I would literally spend hours in that store, having an amazingly difficult time choosing what to buy. I wanted it all, but my miserable part-time income wouldn't allow for it. So I had to be very picky. I remember buying my first Lee and Kirby Fantastic Four's, issues 68 and 70, at Nemo's. I also bought Warren's Creepy, issues 3 and 4, featuring Frank Frazetta covers. And I also bought a near complete run of DC's The Shadow from the 70's, featuring Mike Kaluta's beautiful covers. And I am sure I bought lots more. But my most proud purchase was the first volume of Swamp Thing's... numbers 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. I bought them all for ten bucks a piece back then, and even bought doubles of issue 7... when Swamp Thing crosses paths with Batman. Sadly, issues 1 and 10 were not part of that package. But when I got home, I carefully read them, and I finally understood why Mile High priced them at a premium. These books represent some of the finest storytelling and art every to grace a four-color page. Although Wein and Wrightson gave us an all-too-brief ten issue run, they are undeniable classics. Sadly, Little Nemo's closed its doors nearly two decades ago. A raw copy of ST#1 eluded me until the early 00's, when I finally bought it at Midtown Comics Grand Central. With that purchase, I re-read that run I owned. Since then, Swamp Thing has become my favorite DC character. In my book, he's up there in the majestic pantheon of Super Heroes, holding court with the other greats. As time has passed, I have given up that silly notion of trying to corner the market on ST's #1, in favor of pursing other beloved heroes of my childhood. However, I do intend to buy just one more ST #1... an immortal CGC 9.8. And when that's done... sometime in the far future... I hope to collect all ten issues of that classic Wein and Wrightson run... one day, God Willing! Thanks for reading. Happy Collecting! SW3D To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

ACA Comix Number 1 is available on Ebay This goes out to any and all John Byrne fans, especially those who read and replied to my journal I posted about the very same comic: ACA Comix Number 1, John Byrne's 1st published comic book (not first published work, but first published comic book). Let me just say, I am in no way associated, representing, or connected with the seller who is posting their copy of ACA Comix Number 1. I have no idea who this person is. I am only alerting the collecting community at large, especially those JB fans who have been wanting this rare gem. One interesting thing to note, the seller claims to have been a personal friend of John Byrne in his youth, and managed to get it signed on the back cover with a personal note: "For my friend Richard, John '71" Anyway... it's up for sale on eBay... Here's the link: http://www.ebay.com/itm/JOHN-BYRNE-1ST-COMIC-EXTREMELY-RARE-SIGNED-THE-DEATHS-HEAD-KNIGHT-/140891548157?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20cdca69fd Good Luck! I hope it finds a nice home! Happy New Year SW3D To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

AKA... My Soul Gem: Redux It finally arrived!... Marvel Premiere #2. This is a holdover from 2012. I actually purchased it from the ComicConnect auction site back on December 20th. Although not a key, I couldn't resist the purchase based on its high grade and certification from a pedigree collection: Suscha News. This little gem takes its rightful place among my proud collection of keys I am currently building on Adam Warlock. To date, I now own: 1. Fantastic Four 66 (Origin of Him), 2. Fantastic Four 67 (1st Appearance of Him) 3. Marvel Premiere 1 (1st Appearance as Adam Warlock, 1st Appearance of Costume, 1st Appearance of Soul Gem, 1st Appearance of Counter-Earth/Earth 616) 4. Marvel Premiere 2 5. Warlock 10 (Origin of Thanos and Gamora, 1st Appearance of In-Betweener). As I mentioned in my previous journal post, "Keys to the Kingdom!"... 2013 will see me searching out for two specific Adam Warlock keys to complete this collection. However, I have decided to revise this key search to include two additional keys that have caught my attention, which now means I will be looking to obtain a total of four (4) keys: *1st Key: Thor Volume 1, No. 165: "Him's" first full appearance as he battles Thor for the hand of Lady Sif. *2nd Key: Warlock (The Power of...) Volume 1, No. 1: Finally! Warlock gets his own magazine! This inaugural issue is a continuation of the storyline from Marvel Premiere 1 and 2. *3rd Key: Strange Tales No. 178: The first appearance of the Magus... Warlock's evil future self and founder of the Universal Church of Truth. *4th Key: Warlock No. 9: The origin of the Magus. The late Gil Kane was a master! He's one of my favorite artists. His cover to Marvel Premiere 2 is dripping with dynamic action ala 70's Marvel... check it out! Happy New Year and Happy Collecting! SW3D To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

AKA... My Soul Gem: Building a Mini-Set out of Adam Warlock When it comes to collecting, I'm not much of a completist. Thankfully I don't have an insatiable need to own every issue of a run unless I'm so immersed into the storyline (but sadly, that's very rare). When it comes to collecting third party graded comics, I also have no desire to build and complete sets... partly because it requires a lot of time, effort, and most of all... money... which I need to spread and allocate to other endeavors. There's also the perfectionist in me who desires only the very best grades, and is immediately jealous of another collector with a superior collection or individual item. So, if I were to begin building a set with the intentions of completing it, I would be unsatisfied until I've collected only the highest grades possible... and that would really put me into a deep financial hole! For the most part, my CGC collecting has been focused on buying single keys related to my favorite heroes... which, from my point of view, makes sense since it's easier to amass single keys and way more satisfying without that nagging feeling of... "I can't sleep until I find that missing issue to complete the set". Once I have the key that I want, I can move on. It's like scoring a lot of little victories in favor of the really big one. And in many ways I also look at it like an investment portfolio... it's better to have diversity than throwing all your eggs into one basket. However, contrary to what I just said about building sets, I decided to embark on building a special mini-set or lot. And before you cry hypocrite, let me explain. I am building a complete mini-set of keys all related to just one character: Adam Warlock, aka Him. Why? Partly because I believe these keys to be sound investments with great potential, partly because these keys are currently affordable, and most importantly... to fulfill a fanboy need. But why Adam Warlock in particular and not another character? I can't really say for sure. Warlock's never really been a best selling title, more of a secondary character with a cult following. I first read of his mystical exploits and got into the character back in 1980, when Adam Warlock was a back-up feature to the Silver Surfer. Marvel Comics reprinted the Silver Surfer's first 14 issues from his first volume, in Fantasy Masterpieces Volume 2 (1979 -- 1981), which carried a 75 cent cover price. As an added bonus, they also generously reprinted Jim Starlin's run as previously seen in Strange Tales 178 - 181, and Warlock 9-11. It was these particular Warlock stories which struck a chord in me. There's an esoteric charm to them... a sort of mystical philosophy... very existential and head-trippy... much like the storytelling magic in the Silver Surfer's first run... which is probably why Marvel chose to pair them up... they simply complement each other. I view both the Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock as Marvel Comic's messiahs... both mythologies are filled with great esoteric wisdom... each being evokes a sense and degree of inner peace ironically derived from the lessons learned from the chaos of the outside world, and each being makes a profound sacrifice for the greater good... such noble qualities. If I had the money, I would honestly collect all the issues from both characters... but that just isn't going to happen (not yet a least). Anyway... from my perspective, I feel, Adam Warlock has only six distinct historical keys worth collecting (of which I currently own four), listed as follows: 1st Key: Fantastic Four Volume 1, No. 66: "Him's" origin as told by his creators The Citadel of Science. "Him" does not appear, save in Cocoon form, where he is gestating and awaiting full growth and development of his god-like powers. 2nd Key: Fantastic Four Volume 2, No. 67: Contrary to popular opinion, "Him's" origin is not discussed or covered in this issue, however, he does make his first actual appearance when his cocoon ruptures prematurely... albeit a very brief one panel cameo... but nonetheless we finally get to see "Him". 3rd Key: Thor Volume 1, No. 165: "Him's" first full appearance as he battles Thor for the hand of Lady Sif. 4th Key: Marvel Premiere Volume 1, No. 1: Not only is it the inaugural issue of the title Marvel Premiere, but it is also where "Him" is officially christened Adam Warlock by the Higher Evolutionary, thereby given an identity as well as a costume. Now he's a superhero! And, in addition, it's the first time Adam Warlock dons the Soul Gem: that vampire, soul-sucking jewel which contains a pocket universe: the Soul World... gifted to him by the Higher Evolutionary. 5th Key: Warlock (The Power of...) Volume 1, No. 1: Finally! Warlock gets his own magazine! This inaugural issue is a continuation of the storyline from Marvel Premiere 1 and 2. 6th Key: Warlock Volume 1, No. 10: The sixth and final key (to date), features the Origin of the Mad Titan: Thanos; his lovely green-skinned lethal assassin's origin, Gamora; the Death of The Matriarch; and the first appearance of the In-Betweener (created by Lord Chaos and Master Order and possessor of a Soul Gem... Thanos later conned him for it; that slick !) To date, as I mentioned earlier, I own four of the six. As many of you have posted your goals for 2013, I too will go on record with one of my goals: acquiring the last remaining keys: Thor 165 and The Power of... Warlock No. 1. Thanks for reading. If you're building any particular sets, large or small, please share your stories and why you chose to do so. Happy New Year and Happy Collecting! SW3D To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Wishing you a Happy 90th Birthday! Thank you giving us so many wonderful heroes... You are The Man! http://omg.yahoo.com/news/happy-90th-birthday-stan-lee-003900468.html http://www.therealstanlee.com/Therealstanlee.com/Home.html To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

AKA... Two of a Perfect Pair! AKA... Sometimes Losing at Auction is Actually Winning!I am not sure what possessed me to do it! Is it mental illness or some kind of addiction? Or is it some kind of mania which has befallen me? I didn't need to make these purchases... they were not must haves or buys. In fact, I already own them... so these are dupes. So why did I buy them? Do I need to enroll in CGC Anonymous? Is someone out there planning an intervention? Do I need therapy? no!Earlier this month, I was bidding for a CGC 9.8 of Swamp Thing Volume 1, Number 1 on ComicConnect. I patiently waited nearly till the bitter end of the auction when I placed a maximum bid of $1,600 thinking I would walk away with this beauty. This is a holy grail for me. I love Swamp Thing!.. And there are only 11 graded at 9.8 out of 872 in total. But, believe it or not, I was outbid... the winning bidder paid a whopping $2,600 for it! Can you believe? Somewhat shell-shocked, I mindlessly searched and trolled my favorite auctions sites looking for another chance at a 9.8. Sadly, it never materialized. I gave up and told myself "get over it".However, some weeks later, several 9.6's seemed to pop up out of the woodworks, and at prices which I considered FMV's (Fair Market Value) or near bargains. Feeling the need to preserve cash for the holidays, and knowing the ominous "Fiscal Cliff" looming as a "harbinger of financial doom", I told myself, " If you commit to a purchase, fight tooth and nail to get the best damn value you could possibly get!" And viola! Believe it or not, I did! That majestic piece of comic heaven which stands before you, came into my world, at the negotiated price of $450 including shipping costs. Not bad huh?Currently, the Overstreet Price Guide values a Swamp Thing Volume 1, Number 1, at $350... and that's for a 9.2 raw and ungraded. It goes without saying a CGC 9.6 should fetch multiple values! In fact, back in August 2012, a 9.6 sold for $750 on Comiclink.Yes, it may not be the 9.8 I truly wanted, but at one grade below and at $1,150 less than what the 9.8 went for... I feel like I somehow won!On top of that, on or about the same day of my purchase of ST#1, a Demon Volume 1, Number 7, in 9.8 gets my attention on eBay. There are only a total of 26 graded in the entire CGC Census, of which 8 are in 9.8. So I picked it up for $150... a bit over fair market value... but the Mickey the Pikey voice in me from Guy Ritchie's Snatch say's... "It's a fair deal! Take it! Have I made myself clear?" So I did. Check out the pair, see pic below. By the way, if you never seen Snatch, take a look at this short segment... Brad Pitt and company are f*cking brilliant: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ-nirYb00s. The movie's gold!Happy Collecting!SW3DTo see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

A photo of the back cover to this rare gem. I'm actually afraid to touch it, much less read it... but I did, albeit, very carefully, take an exam of its condition... cover (flat, no spine rolls, blunting on edges, minor foxing on back cover) and interior (all white pages, no missing pages, no missing pieces, no rusting on staples, no detectable oxidation odor) and generally no amateur repairs or restoration that I could detect. My conservative guess on its conditon is 8.0 (Very Fine), but my gut tells me it's 9.0 (Very Fine/Mint). It's printed on heavy stock paper... thick cloth type... not fragile and prone to brittleness like comic pages. On the front cover, in small print, all in caps, appears: A MOPPETT*BYRNE PRODUCTION The back cover reads in large print, all in caps, and centered: THIS CATALOGUE PUBLISHED ON THE OCCASION OF THE A.C.A. STUDENTS' EXHIBITION '71 A.C.A. GALLERY - MAY, 1971 And in small print (but also all in caps and includes a company logo) appears on the lower right corner: PRINTED BY SAIT GRAPHIC SERVICES It obvious it wasn't meant to be a comic book per se, but a free giveaway to those invited guests viewing the gallery. But how many would they realistically print for a gallery viewing? I'm guessing 500 to 1,500 max. I imagine the majority of the recipients were Canadian... mostly students, faculty members, art collectors and the like... but would they have kept them or tossed them away? So the big question is... How many survived? And after 41 years... how many survived in good condition? I have a good mind to research this further. My first task would be to contact SAIT polytechnic and speak to someone in archives. I would like to have a full historical perspective on this... give it the best presentation it deserves! SW3D To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

AKA... John Byrne's First Published Comic Book! AKA... Thank you Marvel Comics and Dan Slott for the Distraction!I went to Midtown Comics Grand Central yesterday during my lunch break. It was busier than normal, and I just assume everyone was there buying up the sickening glut of variant covers of Amazing Spider-Man #700... the last issue and "death" of Peter Parker... well lots of them were, but some shoppers were lucky recipients of X-mas gift cards looking to redeem and take advantage of post holiday sales... myself included!Quite honestly, I really couldn't care much about ASM #700! Dare I say!!! Although I'm not a huge fan of Spidey, I did love the 60's cartoon show. The very bizarre "Revolt in the 5th Dimension" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XF8fasFUucQ) is my favorite episode of the series featuring the best soundtrack and score for a cartoon show (that's my opinion)... funny thing... the episode is actually directly lifted from Canada's Rocket Robin Hood episode "Dementia Five" (check it out: ), which was written by the legendary Ralph Bakshi best known for Fritz the Cat, The Lord of the Rings, and Fire and Ice animated movies. Any-hoot... I have a bone to pick with Marvel over their consistent maltreatment and abuse of Peter Parker. I know he's just a fictional character, but the poor guy's been through so much misery and pain in his life... he's literally been treated like a whipping boy... enough is enough!!! Easy Spidey... easy Spidey... don't lose your cool. But that is a separate topic of conversation which I may quite possibly broach another time.Meanwhile, back at Midtown Comics... there's a Holiday Sale going on: a whopping 40 percent off on all back issues until December 31st! They do this virtually every year... a great opportunity for savings. So, yesterday afternoon, I began searching through their vintage section looking for a bargain, and lo and behold I spotted this little rare gem: ACA Comix No. 1.What you say? What in the heck is ACA Comix No. 1? Glad you ask. ACA Comix is an Alberta College of Art publication (May, 1971), a "brochure" featuring the very first published comic book written and illustrated by none other than the master... John Byrne. John Byrne, the color-blind, English born but Canadian bred writer/artist, best known for his legendary works on Avengers, Uncanny X-Men, Alpha Flight, Fantastic Four, Superman, and his creations Rog-2000, Doomsday Plus 1, Danger Unlimited, and Next Men, attended the Alberta College of Art in the early 70's ('70 -- '73). For some enlightenment onto ACA Comix No. 1, I decided to take an excerpt (used without permission... please forgive me) from an interview conducted by Jon B. Cooke, which appeared in Comic Book Artist #12:"Comic Book Artist: You mentioned in an interview that your first full-length comic story was Death's-Head Knight back in the early '70s. What was that?John Byrne: Not sure I would actually have called it my "first full-length comic story." Death's-Head Knight was a project done for the Alberta College of Art, which I was attending at the time. The curator of the gallery had brought in a comic art show, and needed a "brochure" to be given away at the door. He asked me if I could prepare something on relatively short notice, and I did, some 20 pages, each double-width. It was a sword-&-sorcery story."To my knowledge, only 500 copies were ever printed... Holy Sh*t! Only 500 copies... incredibly rare! And I Google searched ACA Comix No. 1, in an effort to determine a price-value and any known counterfeiting and reproductions... but my search came up empty. I also cross-referenced the CGC census, and only one... count it... 1... graded copy exists... an 8.0!If you visit John Byrne's website, Byrne Robotics, you can click and view his scanned panels of the comic book brochure: http://www.artofjohnbyrne.com/gallery/earlydays/collegedays/. Amazingly, I bought ACA Comix No. 1 for the incredibly low price of $3.00... that's right!... just three bucks... that was the final price paid after a 40 percent discount from the original asking price of five bucks (see pic for the sticker price). I really can't believe it! I somehow feel it's too good to be true! To be honest, I don't know if it's the genuine article or not... but I'm willing to bet it is. In a way I think it's serendipitous! For the last few months I have been eyeing a CGC 9.4 of John Byrne's classic Charlton title: Doomsday Plus One #1; a high grade copy of Uncanny X-Men #129 (1st appearance of Kitty Pride, White Queen, and Sebastian Shaw: by the way... my very first X-Men comic book back in 1979... which I still own but it is in terrible shape... it's been read to death!); and I've also been aching to buy The Art of John Byrne soft cover portfolio book published back in 1980, which I used to own and carried nearly every day with me in an art portfolio along with my HC copy of How to Draw the Marvel Way... but due to an unfortunate accident involving spilled ink... was forever ruined (along with my late 70's Balantine Book Volumes of The Art of Frank Frazetta)... and in a stupid act of blind rage... I threw it out! God I miss that book... those really slick illustrations of Wolverine... or the painted iconic image of Superman flying through the sun... to the very tech-heavy black and white comic book involving an astronaut (a dead ringer for JB himself), crash landing on an alien barren planet, only to discover a sinister dome/moon base which contains its own artificial "Garden of Eden-like" ecosystem inhabited by a mysterious woman and her giant robotic protector. JB is actually kind enough to include on his website, selected images from The Art of John Byrne... check it out: http://www.artofjohnbyrne.com/gallery/artofjohnbyrne/. So, to be an absolute hypocrite... A "shout-out" and really BIG THANK YOU goes to Dan Slott and Marvel Comics for ASM #700... for helping to distract all those rabid comic book hunters at Midtown Comics yesterday... and of course to Midtown Comics for their always exceptional service and for a very nice and truly historic key!SW3DTo see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Just in Time for Christmas... A New Welcome Arrival! The first graded comic I ever purchased was a CGC 9.2 of Swamp Thing Volume 1, Number 1. I purchased it from an eBay seller back in 2006. I remember I was estatic when I received it. I beheld it, firmly held between my outstretched hands... raised high and into the light... enchanted by the radiance of its purple cover and the iconic image of the Swamp Thing rising from the bog as can only be illustrated by the master: Bernie Wrightson. My heart raced with lust for this new-found-love. Another part of me was slightly saddened at the very notion of being unable to read the comic... to caress its crisp pages and allow my fingertips to soak in the ink... to feel its warm and inviting history under the intoxicating perfume of oxidation... to gaze upon its glossy cover and admire it from beyond the confines of the plastic well. But logic eventually prevailed, and I rationlized that this comic needed to be protected... kept safe from the hands of prying strangers and rogues of the night. I eventually went on to register it on the CGC, and discovered a point and ranking system where other collectors could share their proud collections with a fraternal order of comic lovers. My mouth dropped at the sheer numbers of members, not to mention their brilliant collections. A part of me was in deep awe... the other: jealous and envious. Over the years, I slowly purchased more and more CGC slabs, building my collection dilligently and methodically, and noticing my rise in the rankings with a great sense of pride. Today, I welcome the very latest acquisition... the newest arrival to the fold... the Fantastic Four Volume 1, Number 66, an important key to me. It has given me a boost in the rankings by generously providing 690 points. I now have a total of 9,120 points. It's nearly 2013, or seven years since my first purchase. I feel like I've come a long way since then. Before the end of 2012, I am expecting a few more arrivals, and with that, I may reach the 10,000 milestone. If not, whenever my 44 comics in the hands of the CGC finally make it to grade, I should easily catapult through that milestone and then some. I'll make this journal shorter than my usual entries and conclude by wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! SW3D To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

AKA... Predicting the Next Big Comic Book Investment! AKA... Gold Fever: Mining Robert Kirkman on the Yukon Trail!With the phenomenal success of AMC's The Walking Dead, and after the incredible price haul a CGC 9.9 of The Walking Dead #1 recently commanded, $10,000.00, I asked myself, what will be the next big thing? What will be the next comic book gem waiting for investment heaven?We all know the Mad Titan, Thanos is burning hot due to the Avenger 2 movie to be released in 2015. As for Iron Man 55, Thanos' first appearance... The Rent Is Just Too Damn High!!! But Warlock #10, Thanos' origin is still affordable. We also know The Winter Soldier will follow suit in Captain America 2. But who could afford Bucky's first Golden Age appearance? Uncle Sam I need help!The Mandarin... Iron Man's onetime arch-nemesis from Tales of Suspense 50... That ship has sailed Iron Man 3 to be released next year. The movie looks pretty good though... I can't wait!Star-Lord, Nova, Rocket Raccoon from Guardians of the Galaxy? Honestly, why would Marvel/ Disney invest a boatload of money on a bunch of nobodies? But, based on Marvel's announcement at San Diego Comic Con of a planned movie, prices for their keys are on course for interstellar overdrive! Bye-Bye! To be all honest, I'm not really interested in these space flakes anyway. Black Panther... here's another awesome Marvel Character. T'Challa made his first appearance in Fantastic Four #52, but that comic was hot before all the movie talks. However, there is a minor key that is available, which features the first meeting between a teenage T'Challa and his future bride, Ororo Munroe, aka Storm, who saves his in Marvel Team-Up #100. This story was later retconned and re-told in reverse order showing T'Challa as the savior. F*cking confusing and bogus! I guess you can't have a women save a man's ? Gimme a break! Any hoot... see the BP movie buzz: http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/23299/stan-lee-doctor-strange-and-black-panther-movies-in-developmentWhat about Doctor Strange? The Internet is abuzz about a green lit movie to star Viggo Mortensen and a possible appearance in Thor 2: The Dark World... which would be fantastic! If it pans out, the Master of the Mystic Arts keys will bake... but his first appearance in Strange Tales 110, his Origin in ST 115, or his first ongoing title and retelling of his origin as seen in Doctor Strange 169 are already expensive... so no thanks. Check out the buzz: http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/09/08/rumors-claim-doctor-strange-may-be-in-thor-the-dark-world Speaking of Thor... What about Malekith the Accursed? His first appearance is still affordable from Thor 344. But I'm getting the sense no one seems to care about Malekith, nor for the Thor 2 movie. Sorry goldilocks! Nonetheless I'm anxiously waiting for my copy, which I bought back in the day, to free itself from CGC's Verified prison.What about Swamp Thing, John Constantine, Phantom Stranger, The Demon, Deadman, Zatanna? Internet chatter and rumors abound about Guillermo Del Toro's interest in a Justice League Dark movie may make these secondary occult heroes hot, but what are the chances of a movie coming into fruition? Warner Brothers and DC have got a lot of other heroes to mine first: JLA, Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern sequel, Man of Steel franchise... so if it ever happens I'm sure it's still years away. But nonetheless, check out the buzz: http://geek-news.mtv.com/2012/11/08/guillermo-del-toro-justice-league-dark-movie/ Keys for the bunch are somewhat affordable, but for how long?X-Men? It was announced, the next movie will be based on the "Days of Future Passed" storyline from Uncanny X-Men 141 and 142. How faithful an adaptation? I don't know... sounds like 20 Century Fox is trying to play fix it with continuity. But even before the latest announcement, I sent my copy of 142 to CGC... but it is also floating in CGC's verified limbo. UXM's 141 and 142 are affordable... and even if the movie didn't happen, they're investment worthy as a historical key in X-Men's already mythic run. Check out the movie chatter: http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/12/19/hugh-jackman-x-men-days-future-past/ Well, I can endlessly rant about other movie projects on the Hollywood pipeline, but instead I'm going to jump ahead and tell you what I did... I made a bold and calculated move based on absolutely no recent gossip, no recent rumors, no recent confirmed reports, no nothing... just my logic and speculative reasoning. I asked myself... now that Robert Kirkman is a smoking hot Hollywood Commodity, where would the Studios possibly mine for another Kirkman Gem? He's got a number of wonderful comic creations under his belt but his best known work outside of The Walking Dead has to be Invincible. Apparently, back in March 2005, Variety Magazine reported Paramount Picture's bought the movie rights to make an Invincible film franchise (no relation to the 2006 Mark Wahlberg football movie of the same name). So far, nothing else has come out of that movie camp, but I say knowing how long these things take, one has to have patience... it's just a matter of time. So I decided to make a move before things get hot and I got me a CGC 9.8 of Savage Dragon 102, which features Invincible's first appearance in a 5-page preview, which predates Tech Jacket #1, and Invincible #1... and as an added bonus... signed by the man himself!Right now, Savage Dragon 102 is very affordable, with ungraded copies aplenty, available at dirt cheap prices! Troll the internet or go to your local comic book specialty shop, and you'll find them. On the other hand, prices for Invincible #1 remain rather high... more than likely due to the popularity of the character and its creator... I doubt any movies rumors have had any significant impact as of yet. Also to note, CGC Census lists that only a total of four (4) Savage 102 copies have been graded, the same can be said of Tech Jacket #1... incredibly low numbers for a 10 year old comic book and as compared to the 255 total copies graded for Invincible #1 and 105 total copies for Invincible #1's limited edition variant. So what do you guys think? Smart move? Dumb move? Or am I just an insufficiently_thoughtful_person for not keeping this a secret? Maybe I should buy every copy in an effort to corner the market on it and keep it all to myself. Muh Ha Ha Ha Ha! Damn!... Just hit the Save Entry button! Too late! There it goes out into the ethos.Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

AKA... Only a Face a Mother Could Love! Not to steal Mikelutes thunder, but I was meaning to post this for sometime now, so his journal posting seemed liked the perfect segue......I have been a fan of Judge Dredd, ever since I first read the Eagle Comics reprint of the mini-series: The Judge Child Quest. Inspired by the release of Dredd 3-D (which was pretty good considering it was filmed on a low budget; Karl Urban rocks as Dredd!), I went on my own quest to find and purchase a high grade copy of JD's first appearance... which debuted in the weekly UK newsprint comic: 2000 AD, Prog 2 (published in March, 1977, which included a set of Biotronic Man stickers).For its FMV (Fair Market Value), I consulted Overstreet, ComicsPriceGuide.com and ComicBookRealm.com, but none of these price guides list the title 2000 AD. However, I did consult The Comic Book Price Guide for Great Britain, which lists a VF/NM copy of Prog 2 at 250 Pounds (about $405 USD). Just an FYI: In order to view prices and valuations CBPGGB, one must pay for an annual subscription service, which is currently $16.95 USD.Armed with the knowledge of its FMV, I trolled on eBay... both the U.S. and British sites, and found a few raw ungraded copies available... but in poor shape or as part of collected sets and lots listed at high BIN's. I also tried my two favorite comic book auction sites (ComicConnect.com and Comiclink.com), but alas, 2000 AD's were nowhere to be found.Then I did a Google search of British Comics Specialty Stores, and visited several online stores and even contacted a few, but came up empty.Frustrated, I eventually abandoned my search, partly because I couldn't get what I wanted, and partly because no third party graders (CGC or PGX) currently grade 2000 AD's oversized formats. However, during my search, I did come across a stateside comic specialty internet store, mycomicshop.com, and although they didn't have 2000AD, Prog 2 in stock, I did find several back issues available, including two keys which I purchased:The first key I bought was the first and only time Judge Dredd ever removed his helmet (not including Sylvester Stallone's 1995 notorious movie take). This golden nugget can be found in the pages of 2000 AD, Prog 8 (April 16, 1977). Check out the pic below to see what Dredd looks like. Not what you were expecting... I know, it's a jip... but that's life! But it makes me wonder... what the hell does Dredd really look like to illicit such a response from those three car thieves? It reminds me of Roger Corman's '75 cult classic, Death Race 2000, when the late David Carradine revealed the surgically reconstructed face of his character, Frankenstein... Ugh! Incidentally, Pat Mills wrote a comic book sequel to DR2, called Death Race 2020. Who? Don't worry... his name will pop up a few times... trust me. The second key features John Wagner's very first published work on the character in 2000 AD, Prog 9 (April 23, 1977). Scottish writer John Wagner (who was actually born in the US but moved to Scotland with his Mother at a very early age), along with Spanish artist Carlos Esguerra, co-created Judge Dredd. Over a dispute about creator conditions with the publisher, IPC, John Wagner balked, and the first seven issues of Dredd's initial appearances were written by freelance writers. Prog 9 marks Wagner's return to the character and his first published Dredd story. It also features the first appearance of a Heavy Metal Kid Robot in a story that pre-sages the "Robot Wars", sparked by the Call Me Kenneth rogue robot, who lead a deadly and bloody robot revolt against Mega City One and its populace. This revolt is serialized in the following five issues (Prog 10 -- 14). Just an FYI: Wagner's first JD story was reprinted in Eagle Comics' Judge Dredd: The Early Cases No. 1, along with the "Robot Wars". Aside from Dredd, there are five other serialized stories which include: Invasion, Flesh, Harlem Heroes, Dan Dare, and Mach 1. Of the five, and due to a morbid and disturbing curiosity, only Flesh, Harlem Heroes, and Mach 1 are worth eliciting discussion...Flesh (created by Pat Mills: British Writer notable for Charley's War, ABC Warriors, Sláine, and Nemesis the Warlock): 23rd Century Man has developed time travel, and for whatever unknown reasons, future Cowboys (like they're still likely to exist) elect to travel back in time to harvest the meat of dinosaurs... yes, you read that correctly... Dinosaurs! What's in that Big Mac? And on top of that, our future generations also throw caution to the wind and offer first class vacations, as we discover a group of tourists on holiday in a sightseeing train ride through dinosaur country. Predictably, a nasty T-Rex nick-named "One-Eye" (don't laugh you anal loving jokesters), goes nuts, and starts munching on the dumb f*cks... predating Michael Crichton's Jurassic Park novel by thirteen years and the movie adaptation by sixteen... although I say, the whole convoluted mess seems rather inspired by the late sci-fi master Ray Bradbury, in his 1954 classic: "A Sound of Thunder". Harlem Heroes (another Pat Mills creation): Really only worth mentioning due to the art by Dave Gibbons of Watchmen fame. This one's about a futuristic sport known as Aeroball...perhaps an inspired amalgam of the Harlem Globetrotters and Norman Jewison's'75 flick Rollerball (an adaptation of William Harrison's short story "Rollerball Murder). In this particular episode, the villain looks a lot like Marvel Comic's favorite cyborg: Deathlok. Check him out on the lower left corner in the pic I provided. You tell me... Deathlok knock-off? M.A.C.H. 1 (and yet another Pat Mills creation... damn the man's prolific): British secret agent John Probe (an answer to 70's TV show the Six Million Dollar Man and is drawn to look a lot like actor Lee Majors), is the lucky recipient of a miniature supercomputer chip surgically embedded into his brain, which gives him superpowers through Man Activated Compu-Puncture Hyperpower (M.A.C.H.): a computerized form of acupuncture... a process by which inserting thousands of electro-needles into Probe's body, his energy will increase until he has the strength of 50 men! Can you believe? I say... insert that many needles into me and charge me with so much energy I'll probably f*cking burst... much less bleed to death!Well... that about wraps things up. If anyone out there owns any 2000 AD's... come out and share your favorite keys and stories... no matter how silly. Anyway... I'll let all you lucky survivors of the 2012 Apocalypse get back to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Comics! Happy Collecting!To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Wally Wood... I Wish You Were Here! I don't know exactly why, but this afternoon I was singing the lyrics to Pink Floyd's timeless rock classic "Wish You Were Here", which was a song and musical composition written by Roger Waters and David Gilmour, partly inspired by themes of alienation, and most assuredly inspired by founding member and lead singer, Syd Barrett. Barrett hails from the band's early incarnation prior to the Floyd's commercial success, but was kicked out due to erratic behavior stemming from drug abuse. Ironically, during the studio recording of the album of the very same name, Wish You Were Here, Syd Barrett made a surprise visit... and left Floyd members Waters, Gilmour, Wright and Mason rather shaken. For many years, they had known Barrett as an artistic genius with movie-star good looks, as much of the world knew him to be, but the Floyd were startled by Barrett's transformation... Barrett was a completely different person: overweight and bald, and mentally and emotionally vacant, the likely result from the effects of years of drug experimentation. Sadly, Barrett lived only until the age of 60, passing away on July 7, 2006. It's a tragic tale to say the very least of an immense talent that could have been. For some reason, it got me thinking of the many artistic geniuses that lived and eventually died in tragic ways before their time. In the fine arts, I think of Vincent Van Gogh; in the literary world, I think of Robert E. Howard; and in the Comic Book World, the first name that popped into my head was Wally Wood. I first read about Wally Wood's tragic tale in a Wizard Magazine article... had no idea the man was a recluse and troubled alcoholic. My very first connection to Wally Wood was through a comic I purchased from Mile High Comics roughly back in 1984: Marvel Comics' Daredevil Volume 1, Number 6. This was a key issue since it introduced villain Mr. Fear and was the last issue to feature Daredevil's old costume... the red and yellow number. It was written by Stan Lee and illustrated by Wally Wood. Although drawn in a 50's and 60's style, I was immediately taken by Wood's impressive skills in rendering fluid action whilst conjuring a realism mastered by the likes of Frank Frazetta and Hal Foster. But sadly, this was to be the only comic I would own featuring art by Wally Wood, until my recent purchase of Thunder Agents #1. Why? Probably because in the 80's, during the heyday of my comic collecting, Wally unexpectedly seemed to drop-off the face of the earth. I didn't see any of his works featured in any of the Marvel or DC titles. And stupidly, in my teenage years, I didn't care to look for a reason. I just assumed he quit the industry and was off to retirement. It was only two years ago, in the aforementioned Wizard Magazine article (published in Wizard Magazine 228, August 2010, check it out: http://heroinitiative.blogspot.com/2010/06/tragic-genius-wally-wood.html), which finally enlightened me to the truth: at the age of 54, Wally Wood had taken his life. Years of declining health, alcohol abuse, kidney failure, a stroke (which took half of his vision), and I imagine other mounting issues, contributed to a deteriorating mental and emotional state, which ultimately led a despondent Wood to suicide. He was pronounced dead by Los Angeles County Corner's Office on November 3, 1981. I'm not trying to write a tribute page here. I couldn't even begin to do Wally Wood justice since I don't know enough about the man or the artist. I'm still discovering the works of a legend whose comic book career first started back in 1948, and was once hired by the late great Will Eisner to work on The Spirit. Wood is perhaps best known for his classic illustrations featured in legendary publisher EC Comics in the 50's, producing some of the best comic artwork alongside legends Johnny Craig, Reed Crandall, Frank Frazetta, Jack Davis, Graham Ingles, Joe Orlando, Al Williamson, and Basel Wolverton, just to name a few. Google Image Wally Wood, and see what comes up. Recently, IDW published the hardcover book: Wally Wood's EC Stories Artist's Edition. It is a monolithic book, featuring 18 stories from various EC's science fiction titles, faithfully reproduced in their original size as golden age comic art pages. A few weeks ago, I was admiring a copy at Midtown Comics, contemplating purchasing it, but it is not only very large and heavy, but also expensive... I believe $150. Check it out: http://www.idwpublishing.com/news/article/2232/. Three interesting things about Wally Wood I liked to mention before I bore you to death... and the first two things go out to all you Daredevil fans, myself included... First thing, we should express our humblest and sincerest gratitude to Wally Wood, who designed Daredevil's iconic red costume. Second thing, if any of you Daredevil fans own Volume 1, issue 164, a retelling of Daredevil's origin, you'll be happy to know Wally Wood inked the cover illustrated by Frank Miller. Side note: when I first bought that comic back in 1980, I had no idea it was connected to Wally Wood, nor the retelling of DD's origin which features the old yellow and red costume. Third thing, and this one is a gem... this goes out to all you red-blooded males, once again, myself included... a very special thank you goes to Wally Wood, who, along with Gerry Conway and Ric Estrada, co-created Powergirl, and apparently, the artist had a hand in her bosomy look and that sexy low-cut costume. Thank you very much Mr. Wood! No pun intended. FYI: Back in the late 60's, Wally Wood once published the underground comic magazine called Witzend. For any of you collectors searching for keys, again... myself included... this one is particularly hard to find... Witzend Issue 3 (1967), which features the first appearance of Steve Ditko's Mr. A, who happens to be part inspiration for Alan Moore's Rorschach. I'm going to leave you now with a pic of the only CGC graded comic I own featuring Wally Wood's art... his co-creation: T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents. It's a really cool cover... with smooth and clean lines. I love the way Dynamo is rendered in a truly classic pose... almost like an ancient Greek statue. Wally... I wish you were here. If you're into Wally Wood... please share a story about the first comic or artwork you bought featuring the legend. Happy Collecting! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Whilst rummaging through my collection this evening, in search of a particular comic, I came across a 32 year old blast from the past... the pairing of two of Comicdom's most iconic cosmic heroes: The Silver Surfer and Adam Warlock. Marvel Comics was generous in reprinting one of the greatest comic runs in its rich history: The Silver Surfer, Volume 1, No.'s 1 - 14. This was gifted to us all in Fantasy Masterpieces Volume 2, No.'s 1 - 14. On top of that, beginning with issue 8, Adam Warlock was added as a back-up feature, reprinting Jim Starlin's classic run from Strange Tales 178 - 181, and Warlock 9-11. And can you imagine... all for the incredible low asking price of just 75 cents? I bought these comics (see pic) when I was 11 years old. Judging by their condition (I'm guessing 8.5), they were very well read, but with good reason... the stories are just mesmerizing. When it comes to the Silver Surfer, Stan Lee was at the height of his storytelling powers, coupled with the gorgeous majesty of John Buscema's illustrations... the pair created what is otherwise hailed as a masterpiece; a cosmic spanning saga still unrivaled today. Is it any wonder why the Surfer's first volume commands premium prices in the collectibles market? 32 years ago, I had a near complete run of Fantasy Masterpieces Volume Two, a volume which included classic reprints of the Surfer's origin story where we witnessed Norrin Radd's ultimate sacrifice by electing to serve the planet-cannibal Galactus as a herald in order to save his beloved planet Zenn-La and the woman he loved, Shalla-Bal; the classic slugfest which took place on the hallowed halls of Asgard, where the ever mischievous and manipulative Loki convinces the Surfer that Thor is the enemy; and my very favorite... the first meeting between the Surfer pitted against that Mephistopheles-like underworld demon known as Mephisto. So what happened to these comics? I am not exactly sure what possessed me, but I remember one day I was overcome with a strange fever... an insatiable hunger to own a vintage comic book... something old with a cover price below 20 cents. I was very naïve back then... and at a spur-of-the-moment, I hatched an ill-conceived plan to obtain such a book. So this is how it went down... with my heart pumping and my knees wobbling like they were made of jelly, I made a two mile trek to Continental Comics on a hot summer day. I staggered in, all sweaty with a stack of comics, and plunked them down on the glass counter. A dealer gave me the once over and I half-coherently stuttered what I wanted. He flipped through my books and looked at me unimpressed. He was a bit forward and with good reason... He certainly didn't need a snot-nosed kid to waltz into his store demanding a boatload of cash for a stack of comics he also had sitting unsold on his shelves. Instead, he generously proposed an alternative deal... choose one comic worth $20 bucks from his "Vintage Wall of Fame", in exchange for the stack. So I traded them all (save for the two provided in the pic), in exchange for just one comic: Silver Surfer Volume 1, No. 11... in so-so grade. What a sucker! I made out like a bandit! So I thought back then... today... I don't know. In that stack of comics (about 50 or more), I know I gave away a number of issues that today, in the condition they were in, could fetch good returns, especially if graded. I know I traded away Amazing Spiderman No's. 198, 199, 201 and 202 (I kept 200). Those last two issues alone feature early appearances of The Punisher spitting out his "Mercy Bullets" on gangsters and non-powered criminals. I also gave up a small run of Power Man and Iron Fist, which included No. 84 (4th appearance of Sabertooth). But I also gave away lots of ... like Shogun Warriors, and a handful of other reprint volumes of X-Men (I actually miss these since they were reprints of early X-Men featuring the first appearance of Magneto, Mastermind, and the Blob), the Avengers, and the Hulk. Why did I keep these two in particular? Well for certain... I can say about issue 14, I kept it simply because in late 79', I bought the hardcover first edition of How To Draw Comics the Marvel Way (at a time when I wanted to be a cartoonist) as a teaching aide. In it, it features John Buscema's marvelous step-by-step breakdown of one comic page from Silver Surfer No. 14, where he battles Spider-Man on a rooftop. The other I kept because of the Warlock back-up feature, which reprinted Warlock No. 10 featuring the origin of the dark Titan himself, Thanos. Incidentally, I recently bought that Warlock issue at CGC graded 9.8, and posted it in an earlier journal. In hindsight, I'm so glad I made that purchase and have now decided that I won't sell it even if Warlock comics skyrocket in value based on speculation of a movie appearance. Years later, I did buy some additional Volume 1 Silver Surfer's: issues 9 and 13... which are in decent grade. Anyway... barring any prophesized cataclysmic event, I'm going to get back to searching for that comic I was originally looking for. I just hope it wasn't part of that stack I traded away so many years ago. If you got any similar stories... please share. Happy Collecting! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

...AKA... CGC Means Buying with Confidence!I'm into collecting keys: First Appearances, Previews, Deaths, Return of, Origins, First Costume, First Crossovers or Meetings, First Published Works (by Artist or Writer), Scarce or Low Print Runs, First Issue, Last Issue, Recalled Issues, and Anniversary issues. Why? Because to me they represent a significant event... a special place in comic history... and history is worth collecting. Recently, while looking through my collection, I came to realize I didn't own a Batman related anniversary issue... least of all one in high grade suitable for CGC grading.So I made a decision to search for one, ungraded, and as cheap as possible, with the intentions of eventually submitting it to CGC.My search led me to eBay where I found an ungraded Detective 600, and according to the seller's description was in high grade. So I bought it. Sadly, on the day the package arrived, the seller sent me the wrong comic. What I got instead was Detective Comics 610. Surprisingly, I wasn't as upset as I thought I would be since I didn't spend much on the item. However, I did contact the seller, who acknowledged his/her error, and said very nicely and apologetically, to keep the comic, and proceeded to refund my money (all charges including shipping charges).Lamentably, this was the about the fourth time that I had walked away from an eBay transaction involving the purchase of a raw ungraded comic feeling I didn't get what I truly wanted. But that's life. Live and learn.The first unfortunate incident took place this past summer and involved a purchase I made from an international eBay seller. There was a delay in the delivery of over a dozen ungraded vintage comic magazines... well over a month. I later found out, according to the seller, our Postal Service had tore open the box, and sent it back labeled "Return to Sender". Sadly, many of those ungraded vintage magazines were either lost or damaged in the fiasco. The seller eventually sent me a new batch of replacement magazines, and reimbursed me for the ones lost and no longer in stock, and also sent me an unexpected little extra token gift (which was actually pretty cool). Overall, it wasn't what I wanted, but I knew the risks one assumes in these types of transactions.The second incident, coincidentally, involved another international eBay seller who had sent me a pair of raw ungraded vintage comic magazines, in high grade, but sadly forgot to label the package "fragile, do not bend". To my shock and horror, my postal carrier folded and crammed the magazines into my narrow mailbox along with the rest of my mail. I immediately raced up to my apartment, took a collective breath, and carefully opened the package. What stared up at me was a blaring crease fold down the middle of each magazine. I ranted and raved like a lunatic, and spewed several choice words to the ethos, and cried over what could have been near perfect 9.8's. The poor things had suffered needless debasement at the hands of a mindless and unthinking automaton. Damn you USPS!!!But such is life... one must move on.The third incident (by now you would think I would have learned my lesson), was not postal related, but a seller's miscommunication. I placed a bid on eBay and won an ungraded key which was described as a 9.8, with white pages. What I got instead was more like a 9.2 with page oxidation. I was unhappy and felt, by what I had read on the seller's description, mislead. I immediately left negative feedback about my experience. Little did I suspect that my posting would illicit a surprise phone call from the seller (who turned out to be a really nice guy). After much conversation, which initially started awkwardly, both parties came to an amicable agreement where I would only pay for what I felt was the appropriate fair market value for the comic. I ended up getting a portion of my money refunded and I petitioned eBay to reverse my feedback from negative to positive... which they did.Now, I must admit, even before the advent of CGC, eBay, and the internet in general (we're talking the 80's here), on occasion, I would order raw ungraded comics (the ones I couldn't find through local dealers), from various sellers who advertised their mail order catalogues in the very pages of my dearly beloved comics. It was a hit or miss back then too... so it seems today, little has changed. Sometimes raw comics come to you damaged, or sometimes they come to you in a grade other than expected, or in rare cases, not the comic book you wanted at all, but something entirely different. However, since the advent of CGC, I have purchased all my CGC keys from eBay sellers, and, most recently ComicConnect, and have, so far, been completely satisfied when it comes to transactions involving third party graded comics. The lesson learned: With a third party graded comic, I never have to second guess what I am buying... never need to worry about the unforeseen intangibles. The CGC has essentially taken that away... which means I can buy with confidence. How? Glad you ask...1. Verification: The CGC provides a unique registration bar code number for each comic it grades which can be found on the front label. You can easily cross reference a registration number on the CGC website and view its description.2. Grade: Unlike raw ungraded comics that are in the hands of amateurs, a team of professional graders at CGC have already determined the grade for you... so no worries.3. Authenticity: No need to worry about signature forgeries, reprints, counterfeits, or reproductions... CGC's already done that check for you.4. Protection from Damage: Although not fool-proof, CGC slabs are very sturdy and because of their large sizes, require special packaging forcing shippers to box them... there's no way they can be bent or damaged unless through the sheer negligence and carelessness of the mail carrier or some catastrophic event... but that's Force Majeure... and then you're *d!5. Preservation and Storage: CGC slabs serve as unique instruments for panelologists seeking maximum preservation means, but once you have them in your hands, it's up to you to find suitable storage. So where do you put them? My best answer is anywhere safe from: fire, heat and sunlight; humidity and areas prone to erosion, flooding and water damage including basements, attics, garages, vehicles, and piping; cigarette smoke, vapor, dust, mold, pesticides, biodegradable organic compounds like rotting corpses, and other toxic air quality; sharp objects; insects and vermin; pets; children; food and perishables; piles of junk; your Aunt Matilda; vengeful ex-girlfriends or wives; broke friends; thieves; nosey neighbors; clumsy and dull-witted people; book burners; Celebrity Divas; Nuclear Reactors; Illegal Toxic Dumping Grounds; Military Testing Sites; Drug Wars, Mafia Wars, Raps Wars, War on Terror... War in General; Bigfoot; Extraterrestrials; Aliens Vs. Predators; T-1000; Paranormal Activity; J-Horror Films; Zombies; Secret Societies; Shadow Governments; The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; and anybody or anything else you could think of that may bring damage or cause accidental or purposeful harm to your beloved collection.Have I given up on buying raw ungraded comics... sight unseen... through the internet or mail-order? YTo see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

...Showcase 80 Vs. Phantom Stranger Volume 2, Number 4... ...OR... ...Phantom Stranger in the Silver Age: The Lost Years...Int. - Theatre - Night:It's opening night in a packed house bristling with the energy of excitement and anticipation. As the theatre lights dim, a lofty backlit trail of white light pierces the ebony darkness, spotlighting an empty stage. The audience falls silent as a lone figure whose face is impossibly cloaked in obsidian, graces the stage. He stands before closed curtains and addresses the audience...Master of Ceremonies:"Ladies and Gentlemen and Children of all ages, allow me the pleasure of introducing a man who needs no introduction... a man who has gone toe-to-toe with The Spectre... The Spirit of Vengeance himself, and has lived to tell the tale... a distinguished member of the Justice League of America, The Trenchcoat Brigade, The Quintessence, and the Sentinels of Magic... Comicdom's very own first gray-haired fox... from the Silver Age of Comics comes... the incomparable... the irrepressible... the undeniable... the Phantom Stranger!The curtains lift open revealing... Showcase 80.The Audience:Cheers! Applause!Showcase 80: Thank you... thank you... thank you ladies and gentlemen for a most gracious and warm reception. It is with great honor that I am here tonight to share with you my most thrilling adventures and hair-raising exploits during the Silver Age. A time I reflect when... From a balcony overlooking the orchestra pit an ominous voice commands..."Wait!" (Off Camera)The startled audience turn to bear witness to this sudden and gross transgression...Phantom Stranger Volume 2, Number 4: "You are not the real Silver Age Phantom Stranger... you are nothing more than a Golden Age reprint! An imposter! A charlatan! A fraud! Take a good look dear people, take a good look... for I am the real Silver Age Phantom Stranger!!!And believe it or not Ladies and Gentlemen... what you have just read is true!......Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, one can reasonably argue the Phantom Stranger didn't make his "real" first appearance in the Silver Age with Showcase 80. In fact, Showcase 80 and the Phantom Stranger Volume 2, No.'s 1, 2, and 3, are, for the most part, reprints from his Golden Age's first volume, with the inclusion of Dr. Thirteen back-up stories originally seen in Star-Spangled Comics. These reprints are combined with brief new material that serve as nothing more than framing sequences to introduce and conclude each reprint story. Now I ask you... Do a few covers and a few framing sequences make for a first appearance? Food for thought.It's not until Phantom Stranger Volume 2, Number 4, published in November-December, 1969, where we are finally treated to a brand spanking new story... with brilliant art by Neal Adams, who updates the Phantom's look (disposing of his Golden Age garb), and, for the first time, a reoccurring nemesis is introduced in the vestige of Tala, an immortal pagan goddess, who's every bit the Stranger's equal. This, I declare, merits a debate between comic book historians as to this issue's importance and candidacy as the Stranger's first true appearance in the Silver Age. But that also leads me to another topic of discussion... ...Sadly and rather abruptly, by the very next issue, No. 5, publication date January-February 1970, we have said goodbye to the Silver Age and hello to the Bronze......So, other than the one comic (Phantom Stranger Vol., No. 4), and some framing material and beautiful covers provided by Neal Adams and Bill Draut, the Stranger's Silver Age appearance is all but strikingly brief. This seems to me, to be a missing page in history... an overlooked gap. What was he up to all those years in between? In my estimation, one issue doesn't cut it. That, DC, maybe something worth exploring... a golden opportunity to retroactively re-invent the Phantom Stranger's activities during the Silver Age... the lost years. ...What do you think?FYI: If you're a fan of all things Phantom Stranger, I encourage you to visit blog site: iamthephantomstranger.blogspot.comHappy Collecting!To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Why Music Comic Book tie-ins generally suck! I'm a big fan of music... you name it... Rock, Rap, Popular, Club, Classical, Disco, Jazz, Easy Listening, R&B, Country, Soul... if it sounds good to my ears... I'm into it. And I love reading comic books, which also includes a wide range of genres: Superhero, Adventure, Fantasy, Horror, Sci-Fi, Western, Funny Comics, Underground, and, on some rare occasions, even Romance Comics. However, when these two diverse examples of popular cultures mix, it creates a tacky, cross-promotion tie-in, featuring celebrity musicians. And none of these comics, as far as I am aware, include any free music samples... like a Vinyl Record, Cassette Tape, CD, or MP3 download. Can you, dear reader, think of any instance, where a cross-promotion with the music industry has ever produced a comic book tie-in worth reading, let along collecting? Music Tie-Ins are just too gimmicky for my tastes... with the publishers hoping to cash-in on the appeal of the featured music celebrity or group. And the stories are usually bad... very bad... memorable, yes... because they're bad... very, very, very bad. Back in the Golden Age, circa 1941, Gene Autry appeared in Fawcett's Gene Autry's Comics #1, with a story entitled "The Mark of the Cloven Hoof", arguably comic's earliest example of this cross-promotion. I can honestly say, I never read it nor any of the Gene Autry Comics, so I really shouldn't comment, but by the look of their covers, they seem to be closer in relation to the Western genre, and less music oriented... they just happen to feature a Country-Western Star. Because of its success, Dell countered with their own line starring another famous singing cowboy, Roy Rogers, with the eponymous "Roy Rogers Comics". Its debut issue, featuring a story titled "Roy Rogers in the Secret of Thunder River", is a murder mystery. Again, this is another early example, but leaning more so to Western-Cowboy themes. Fast forward to the 60's, and the Beatles make the scene starring in a dozen titles, and making guest appearances throughout the decade. These are perfect examples of when comics become more and more gimmicky due to the Fab Four's sky-rocketing success and celebrity... and the stars are everywhere: DC's Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen No. 79, Marvel's Strange Tales 130, Batman 222, and in comics I have never heard of like Charlton's My Little Margie, based upon a CBS TV sitcom of the same name. The Beatles also starred in several movies throughout this decade, and comic book tie-ins followed suit. You say you want a "Revolution", then go and check out www.beatlescomics.com , to view perhaps the largest collection of comic books featuring the Beatles. Inspired by The Beatles success, Dell published its own tie-in, featuring those TV-created imitators... The Monkees... an oddball comic book, mirroring their childish antics from their ABC TV show. Dial B for Blog discusses the whole Monkees' comic, as well as one unusual cameo of the singing group as superheroes in the background of two panels in Mark Waid's and Alex Ross' epic saga, Kingdom Come. So "Catch the Last Train to Clarkesville" at: http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/438/monkeemen3.html By the 70's, another of ABC's faux singing groups, The Partridge Family, gets their very own comic, published by Charlton. From the looks of the covers themselves, I'm ready to puke! "Get Happy" and checkout the whole sappy scene at: http://www.comicvine.com/partridge-family/49-34592/. In 1977, Marvel Comics Super Special gave KISS the four-color treatment, where it was purported (in an obvious marketing ploy to sell these bastions of bad taste), KISS members Paul Stanley, Gene Simmons, Ace Freely, and Peter Criss, had their blood drawn and mixed with red ink used in the printing process. What a truly ridiculous gimmick! But I must say, it played well into the brand marketing of what KISS was all about... and it worked! Thousands of fevered and rabid KISS Army fans clamored to buy those awful comics. Here's an interesting piece of comic trivia... Did you know? ...KISS actually made their debut on the very last panel of Howard the Duck, No. 12? "Welcome to My Nightmare!" Two years later saw Alice Cooper make his comic book debut, brought to you by, guess who, Marvel Comics Group, in Marvel Premiere No. 50. This one had goofy written all over it... with the cover depicting Alice being hauled into a looney bin... it actually makes the KISS comic look decent. Take a look at "The Doctor", who looks like Doctor Who's Tom Baker on acid (see cover image below). There was probably only one time, and only one time, when music did make the scene for me, but I attribute that to John Byrne's awesome artistic talents... when he and Chris Claremont introduced... the One-Woman Disco Ball and Light Show... that Mutant Disco Songstress herself... the Dazzler! That was back in 1979, in Uncanny X-Men 130. The Dazzler was sexy... sporting shoulder length strawberry blond hair and outfitted with a tight silver-white costume and tacky roller shoes... she was heaven on wheels! But technically, she's not a music celebrity... and nor was her appearance as tie-in... so it probably doesn't count. Did you know Eminem cross paths with the Punisher? Or that New Kids on the Block hung out with Richie Rich in a three issue mini-series? Did you know Billy Ray Cyrus had a Time Traveling Tour Bus? Or that Marvel Comics once had an imprint called Marvel Music Label? If you want to go down music's memory lane and check out some of the finest examples of what really makes for a bad tie-in, click on this link: http://thefw.com/worst-music-comic-books/ Although, I must admit, the Lita Ford comic looks very interesting. In 2012, Stan "The Man" Lee, did his take on "The King", Elvis Presley... which actually doesn't look too bad, but it's obvious to me its another gimmick. There's a hell of a lot of talent attached to this book... so who knows... "1,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong". Goto: http://issuu.com/liquidcomics/docs/fcbd_elvis_lowres1?mode=window&;backgroundColor=%23222222 Just a few parting words... and this goes out to the publishers of Music and Comic Books alike... I challenge you all to create, dare I say, the greatest music-comic book cross promotion of all time... or at least something decent. Put your collective minds and talents together, and I'm sure you'll be able to surprise me and the readers with a gold record... and be sure to include a CD or a digital music download! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

Batman Presenta: Linterna Verde Codo a Codo Con Las Mas Sensacionales y Nuevas Superestrellas! Los Hombres Omega! Translation: Batman Presents: Green Lantern Side by Side with the Most Sensational and New Superstars! The Omega Men!When you travel domestically, do you buy comics? I do. And when you travel abroad, to foreign lands where they speak another language... Do you buy comics as well? I do too. My love of comics and natural curiosity compels me to see what comic books look like outside of their natural habitat... It's like watching Star Trek in Spanish, or Seinfeld in French. For eight years I was married to a Swede, and she and I would travel ever year for either the holidays or Mid-Summer, to visit her family, where they live in a suburb called Vallentuna, just outside the nation's capital: Stockholm. We also took side trips throughout Sweden, visiting Sigtuna (the oldest city in Sweden, founded in 980, which saw Sweden's first coinage minted, and is speckled with plenty of Rune Stones), Vaxholm (Castle Vaxholm ominously overlooks the Stockholm archipelago), Uppsala (site of Uppsala University, the oldest university in Sweden, established in 1477), Gothenburg (Sweden's second largest city on the west coast), Salen (a popular ski town where U2 shot their video New Year's Day back in 1982), Gotland (Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea), as well as parts of Norway including its capital: Oslo. What struck me as odd, maybe because I didn't expect to see this particular American franchise in Sweden, is the proliferation of 7-11's, both there and in Norway. Another thing which caught my fancy is where they sell comic books... in supermarkets... stacked in racks along side gossip magazines, newspapers, books, and even DVD's, parked just before the cashier check-out. Two of Sweden's national supermarket chains are called ICA and Coop. My wife favored the former... I'm not sure why, but I did find a lot of good foods there that I surely miss. Every so often, we would go food shopping at ICA, in Vallentuna Centrum (Vallentuna Centre). There I would buy a Spiderman (Spindelmannen), X-Men, or Fantastic Four (Fantastik Fyra), and even Bamse, "The World's Strongest Bear", created by Sweden's own Rune Andreasson (based on the cartoon show and comic strip of the same name), in hopes that by reading them, I would pick up some of the language. It helped a little, but Swedish is like German, and requires dedication and practice... lamentably, because I procrastinated to a great degree (still do... I'm a lazy f**k), it never happened. Not even Rosetta Stone helped.I also bought comics and vintage car magazines (mostly for my Father-in-Law, he loved vintage cars or bils as they are known in the Swedish language), from a national chain of newsstand outlets called Pressbryan's, found in malls, gas stations, and airports (flygplats), where you can also purchase DVD's, candies (Swedish chocolates are delicious and a lot less sweeter than their American counterparts), ice cream, newspapers, paperback books, lottery tickets, and you can even gamble on the horses (like a miniature OTB). I can't remember the year, maybe 2006 or 2007, but I discovered one genuine comic specialty shop, as well as a fantasy-themed bookstore. The former was located in Gamla stan (The Old Town... my favorite part of Stockholm simply because it transports you back into ancient times), and the other I forget exactly where, but somewhere in the Stockholm centre, which was more of a genre book store that sold fantasy, sci-fi, horror novels, along with graphic novels. Both places sold American and English comics. And without fail, just before the end of each trip, I would give away these comics to my ex-wife's nephew. I also traveled to other parts of Europe and South America, but for whatever reason, the comics I bought on those visits never ended up making the return trip to the States. Maybe I left them behind because I never took them seriously; never felt they had any true value, since they were all reprints of American comics... in foreign languages no less... so why bother? But looking back, I wish I had kept them all... especially a Batman I bought in Barcelona... but... that's life... oh, well. C'est la vie.However, I did keep one foreign language comic, a mini, pictured below, which I purchased back in the Summer of 1985, on a trip with my Father touring Mexico City (a month and a half or so before their catastrophic earthquake, which registered 8.0 on the Richter Scale and not only devastated the city, but claimed an estimated 10,000 lives), and the small resort community of Zihuatanejo (you may heard and seen it as the meeting place for Ellis "Red" Redding and Andy Dufresne after their stint at Shawshank). I am quite certain I bought this mini-comic in Mexico City (an overpopulated metropolis bristling with zipping Volkswagens), but I can't recall exactly where... probably at an outdoor newsstand. However, I do remember dragging my poor Father to see Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (a holdover from 1984, and thankfully in English but subtitled in Spanish), and later, coerced him to buy for me, two vinyl albums from a Mexican record store, at dirt cheap prices: Van Halen's 1984 and Men at Work's Cargo. Anyway, about the comic itself: it's published by EN (Editorial Novaro), and cover priced for less then a peso... probably equivalent to 50 cents in Mexican currency back in the day. The mini's Indicia list a publication date of 27th of January, 1985. The cover is from Green Lantern Volume 2, No. 142 (published back in July, 1981), and inside is a reprint of a story written by Marv Wolfman and illustrated by Joe Stanton, aptly titled "The Omega Men", which contains the second appearance of the Omega Men. There is also a Golden Age Batman reprint from 1955: a story called "The Seven Wonders of the Underworld", which I researched to have been originally published as one of three Batman stories (including the debut of Agatha Wayne... Bruce's aunt) appearing in Batman, Volume 1, No. 89. Overall, I can comfortably say it's in excellent condition for a twenty-seven year old comic, potentially garnering a 9.0 grade (or higher if I'm lucky), if I have it CGC'd. As a goof, if Marv or Joe should make an appearance at NY ComicCon, I might bring it along and have it signed... presumably they would get a kick seeing their works translated into Spanish. So is anyone else out there like me... buying comic books in strange foreign lands? If so, share your stories and maybe a pic or two. I'd love to hear them. Happy Collecting!To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

How to Identify First Print Editions and Variant Covers Using the Bar Code Here's a little trick that was revealed to me by the good people at Midtown Comics. I asked the question: How can I determine if a comic is a first print edition versus a second print edition and if it's a standard cover or a variant cover? His answer: Check the bar code. Now let me explain what he meant. Take the two available covers of Hero Worship Issue 1 published by Avatar Press. One cover depicts Zenith saving a bawling infant from a driverless runaway rig, a second cover depicts Zenith flying over a city, with what appears to be a metal guardrail ripped from a nearby rooftop. Once again, both covers are from Issue 1, but obviously one of them is a variant cover... but which one? Can you guess? Well there's no need to guess anymore. Here's how to tell them apart... ...On the back covers of each comic, we discover the bar codes. If we match up the bar codes, their number sequences are nearly identical. But if you take a closer look... they're not. What's the difference? On the right-hand top corner of each bar code, you'll discover a five digit number sequence. The bar code on the left has the following sequence of numbers: 01011; the bar code on the right: 01021. The very last number on the extreme right of each sequence, is the number 1, which denotes that each copy to be a first edition or first printing. The second to last number on each sequence, you'll notice a variation. The bar code on the left has a number 1, while the bar code on the right has a number 2. That number 2 signifies it's a variant cover: cover number 2 of print 1. So now you know how to identify the print edition as well as a cover variant of any comic but checking the bar code. Note... not all comics have bar codes, especially comics published prior to the mid-70's. If you have a comic collecting tip to share, please do so... I'm always happy to expand my knowledge of the hobby. Happy Collecting! To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

...When Too Much of a Good Thing is a Bad Thing... What's with all the variant covers? Is this really helping the industry grow? Is there a genuine reason why a comic, with a listed cover price of $2.99, needs to be marked-up to $10 or $25 bucks by your local specialty shop, solely because it contains a variant cover? And just because these covers are considered rarer than they're standard cover brethren, does it really deserve a higher price valuation? BFD! It's a gimmick... a commercial marketing scheme to suck the reader's dry of their hard earned cash. It has no merit... no substance... and in my opinion needs to come to an abrupt end. Do I like seeing the different artists take on covers? Yes... I'll admit that... I love eye-candy... who doesn't?... but there's a simple solution... and this suggestion is aimed at the publishers... save these gorgeous variant covers for an inner portfolio... a gallery of images... to be included in the standard periodical as a little extra for the readers. I remember such portfolios were a mainstay in the pages of Savage Sword of Conan magazines, and I loved it... still do. The readers deserve these golden nuggets. We all do. Times are rough and we all need to save a buck or two! Christmas is coming and I got some CGC'd comics to buy! Now here's a gimmick... designer coffins... designed in the logo and color scheme of your favorite superhero. And, as an added bonus... your rotting corpse will be dressed in the costume of your hero of choice. What do you think? To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.

...Does this cover offend you? Really? An Arab-American with a gun? This cover reeks of an unnecessary racial stereotype in an already sensitive and uptight world... ...And... ...In light of a number of domestic and international tragedies where gun toting psychopaths have orchestrated mass murders... Did we really need an image of a Green Lantern, who, by the way, already wields the most powerful weapon in the universe, aiming a gun at us? Really? Maybe DC stands for Dumb Covers? (Well I had another word in mind but I chose in favor of self-censorship because I didn't want to offend an already offended audience). Let's hear your thoughts and opinions. To see old comments for this Journal entry, click here. New comments can be added below.